Coming Home
by ThaDarkSlayer
Summary: More updateage..Chapter 5! Paige comes home for the first time since beginning University. The only thing is, she doesn't come home alone. What will her exgirlfriend, Alex think?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: **

A cool wind blew crisp leaves across the campus sidewalk. A blond girl walked down the sidewalk with several heavy books weighing down the bag that hung just above her left hip. Her heels clicked with every step. She pulled an id card out of her pocket and swiped it to gain entrance to a large brick building. She continued walking up a flight of stairs, and down a hallway until she finally found herself standing in front of a brightly decorated door. She used a key attached to her id card and unlocked the door before stepping inside her dorm room.

She dropped her id and keys as well as her bag onto her desk and plopped down onto the bed with a rushed exhalation of air. The room was dark and the dorms were relatively quiet as most students were still in class or grabbing themselves something to eat from the cafeteria. She was just beginning to relax when her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She reached into her pocket to retrieve the small, silver item. After checking the blue caller id screen, she flipped open the phone and answered "hello."

"Hey Paige. Were you busy? I know you get out of class sometime around this time." It was her friend, Sam. They had literally run into one another earlier that semester in the campus coffee shop. It had almost been a cappuccino casualty, but they both managed to only spill a few drops and ended up sharing a table with one another for the evening. They quickly became friends, and often would accompany one another to the coffee shop as it was their favorite place to hang out.

"Oh no, hun. Actually, I just walked in the door a few minutes ago. What's up?"

"I wanted to see if you had plans for dinner tonight."

Paige thought it over for a few seconds before replying "Oh, no actually... did you have anything in mind?"

"What about that cafe downtown? What was it called? The Brick...yea, how about The Brick?"

"Sure, that sounds great, and maybe we can grab some coffee afterwards? I surely need something...this day has been heinous."

"Definitely good. So, do you want me to come by your dorm...say...7ish?"

"Seven would work perfectly. I've got a few last minute things to do for my Marketing presentation tomorrow. I guess I need to get the ball rolling on those if I'm going to finish by seven though...so I'll see you at seven then?"

"Ok Paige, I'll see you then. Bye."

"Later, hun." And with that, Paige closed the phone and sat down at her desk. She tapped at the touch pad on her laptop gently before finishing up one of her many school assignments.

After closing her laptop, she opened the wardrobe to pick out her clothing for the evening. She changed her clothes, spritzed her hair, and touched up her makeup. She had just finished applying her lip gloss when there was a light knock at her door. She grabbed her purse and keys before opening the door. Sam stood outside waiting patiently. She looked like a Gap ad in her brightly colored polo and jeans. "Pink again? I'm beginning to think that's the only color clothing you own, Paige" Sam said in a joking manner.

Paige slapped her gently on the arm. "You better hush Miss Salinas, or I might leave you to an evening of craptastic cafeteria food by yourself."

"Ok ok, you've got it.. no more pink jokes. Now, are we going to stand outside of your room all night or are we actually going out for dinner Miss Michalchuk?" The comment earned her another smack on the arm.

"Fine fine, let's go" Paige said with a little laugh.

The two girls had finished dinner and had already made their way to the coffee shop down the street. Paige and Sam selected a table, and sat down with their vanilla lattes .

"Mmm, caffeine... I totally needed this. The end of this semester is kicking my ass. I'm so glad winter break is coming up. Aren't you?"

Sam took a sip of her steaming drink and let it swirl around in her mouth for a second before swallowing and finally answering Paige's question. "Well, I guess the break from school work will be good, but I don't have any real plans."

Paige asked with a concerned look, "well, aren't you at least going home for Christmas?"

"Actually, I'm not. My parents are going on some skiing trip in the Swiss Alps, and I wasn't invited. I was planning on just staying here during the break."

"You will not under any circumstances be spending your break here. I will not have it. You're coming home with me for a Michalchuk Christmas."

"Oh Paige, I couldn't do that. Besides, you haven't even asked your parents."

"Don't worry about them. Please say you'll come home to Toronto with me. My brother, Dylan will be home which means Marco will be around and you can finally meet him. Oh come on, seriously, what is keeping you here? It will be fun."

Sam thought about it for a minute before giving in "ok, I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right. I always am. Wow, this is exciting. I've got to call Marco tonight and tell him you're coming. He's been going on and on forever now that he wants to meet you, and you can meet Hazel and everyone else. Yay!"

Sam sat thinking to herself as Paige rambled excitedly about everyone that she would meet while in Toronto. _Well, I guess it's good that I'll get to meet Marco. I've heard so much about him. Wait, that means we might run into Alex as well, and I've heard a lot more about her. I never told Paige that I was actually awake during the nightmares she had on the nights she slept over at my apartment. I listened quietly as she tossed and turned and talked out loud telling Alex to please not leave her . She did finally admit that they had dated and that it had ended badly, but didn't really elaborate. Paige never came out and said it, but I know that she's still in love with Alex. Great..._

**A/N: Of course they're going to run into Alex. This is a Palex story after all, but that's not to say there won't be drama. Either way, yes, Alex will make an appearance in the next chapter. Let me know what you think so far.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: **

"Jesus Paige, do you think you have enough stuff?" Sam said as she finally closed the back hatch of her black Jeep Grand Cherokee. She and Paige had been running up and down the stairs for the past half hour. Finally, they had loaded all of Paige's things into the Jeep.

"I don't want to hear it. You have the entire back seat full." Paige opened the passenger side door and climbed in. Sam walked around. She then took her place in the driver's seat and started the ignition.

"My iPod is in the glove box. Pull it out, and pick out something to listen to." They listened to cheesy pop complete with singing along and epic rock ballads with complimentary air guitar in true road trip fashion. Nearly three hours later, they pulled into the Michalchuk driveway.

"Home sweet home..." Paige said as she pulled on the door handle and hopped down out of the Jeep. Nearly the second her feet hit the ground, a tall, blond curly-haired boy opened the front door.

"Well, look who it is..." Dylan, Paige's older brother said as he walked down the sidewalk. He was followed by a smaller, dark-haired boy. "If it isn't my big University girl sister..."

"Dylan! Marco! Oh my gosh. I've missed you guys!" Paige leaned in to hug her brother and Marco. Sam shut the door and walked around to where everyone else was standing. "Guys, this is my best friend from Banting, Sam. Sam, my brother, Dylan, and Marco."

"It's awesome to finally meet the infamous Sam" Marco said as he gave Sam a friendly hug.

Sam returned the genuine hug and patted Marco on the back. "I feel the same about you guys. Paige never shuts up about you" she said with a smirk.

"I see University hasn't changed you much, Paige. You still have a big mouth, huh?" Dylan said with the amount of teasing in his voice that is only shared between siblings.

"Gee, thanks guys. Maybe Marco and I will just have to leave you two here to 'make fun of Paige hour' yourselves."

"Now why would you go and do a thing like that? Then we wouldn't be able to see the prize look on your face" Dylan said as he laughed.

Paige swatted at her brother's arm. "Marco, can't you do anything with your boyfriend?"

"I'm afraid he's beyond help in the making fun of Paige department, butmoving on topressing matters...what do you guys say about maaaybe heading over to The Dot?"

Dylan said "Wherever you go babe, I go. Ladies?"

Paige and Sam both agreed that they were famished and that a trip to The Dot was in order. Dylan and Marco helped them bring their plethora of bags up to Paige's room before heading out.

Alex decided that she needed a caffeine fix and a break from the bleak atmosphere of her apartment so she headed over to The Dot. When she pulled up, her eyes instantly went to one of the booths inside. _Oh shit..._she thought. _It's Paige. _Upon further studying of the table, she noticed a girl she didn't recognize sitting next to Paige. Everyone at the table was laughing and they looked as if they were having a good time. "Who the hell is that?" Alex wondered out loud with jealousy beginning to rear it's ugly head. Dylan and Marco got up and headed in the direction of the washrooms.

She shrugged and said to no one really but herself "What the hell...never been scared to face anyone before, so why would she be any different?" She opened the door and entered The Dot. A fleeting thought that included the word 'love' passed through her mind briefly, but the thought was gone as soon as it surfaced.

She sauntered over to the bar in only a way she could and ordered herself a coffee. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Paige and the girl sitting at their table with their backs to her. They seemed friendly enough with one another. Paige scooted out of the booth, and headed to the washroom.

Seeing that the girl was by herself now, and feeling confrontational, Alex got down from her stool and headed towards the girl. She sat down across the table from Sam. Sam recognized the trademark hoop earrings as she had seen snapshots of Alex in Paige's scrapbooks. Her palms began to sweat. Her worst fear about coming to Toronto was sitting directly in front of her and was currently staring her down with eyes that cut like knives.

Alex kept her eyes on Sam, and finally spoke "So, who the hell are you?"


	3. Chapter 3

Sam opened her mouth which was suddenly very dry. "Uh..." she stumbled over her words, and couldn't seem to get her bearings.

"I didn't think it was that hard of a question" Alex said in a monotone voice.

Sam cleared her throat a few times before coming back to the world of the coherent. "I'm Sam. I uh...go to school with Paige."

"I figured as much" Alex said dryly as she propped her chin on her hand. She continued to dissect Sam with her eyes.

"We're not..."

"Not what? Fucking?" Alex finished for her.

"No, that's not wha"

"Oh, so you just haven't gotten her in bed yet?" Alex interrupted.

It seemed as if the last line brought Sam out of her dazed, stuttering state. "No Alex, I haven't, and I don't want to."

Alex was thrown off by being addressed by her name. "Wait...what?" She couldn't seem to come up with one of her trademark witty remarks.

"Look, I don't want to cause any trouble. Just hear me out...We're just friends...only friends. She told me about you. She really didn't go into much detail, but I could tell that there was more to the story. That's why I never pushed the issue with her, nor did I ever pursue anything with her other than friendship."

Sam's honesty seemed to have driven Alex further into her silence.

Just then, Paige rounded the corner and began to tell Sam how she just knew that Dylan and Marco must be making out in the washroom when her eyes fell immediately upon the intensely deep brown eyes of one Alex Nunez. She stopped mid-sentence and stared for a few seconds. "Alex?" 

"I've got to go." Alex quickly stood up and attempted to leave. Paige grabbed her arm and tried to keep her from going. The feeling of Alex's skin was like fire to her finger tips. The connection they had shared was still present, but once again, Alex seemed to be trying to run away from her problems. "Paige...stop" her voice cracked as she said Paige's name. She pulled her arm away, and this time Paige let her go. She walked at a quick pace to the door and within a few seconds she was gone. 

Marco and Dylan exited from the washroom together with both of their faces a bit flushed. They paused when the reached the table and noticed just how quiet Paige and Sam were. Paige was standing near the table with a glazed over look in her eyes.

"Hello...earth to Paige..." Marco attempted to get her attention. He tried to follow the direction of her eyes to see what she was looking at. All he saw was the door and nothing else. He waved his hand in front of her face. "Paaaaige..."

Sam finally spoke "Alex was here."

"Oh" Marco said shortly. His mouth remained in an "O" shape as he directed his eyes to Dylan in an attempted to figure out how to approach this particular situation.

"Look, Paige..." Dylan began but was interrupted by Paige.

"No, it's fine. I...it's fine." She cleared her throat. She had a stern look on her face that told the others at the table that this particular conversation was over.

They attempted to regain normal conversation after the run-in with Alex.

After an amusing afternoon turned stressful, the four college students returned to the Michalchuk home. "What do you say...to a proper movie night?" Marco attempted to lift the dark cloud that seemed to have been looming over the group since Alex had ran out of The Dot earlier. 

Paige was a ball of contemplation inside while everyone else treaded on thin ice as to not say the wrong thing to send Paige into full-on bitch mode or all-out hysterics. Marco and Dylan had been around for the first Alex fallout, and Sam was taking a stab in the dark that it wasn't something Paige really wanted to get into. They all agreed to movie night, and Dylan and Marco went to pick up some pizzas and the latest Ben Stiller DVD which left Same and Paige alone with one another.

They were changing into traditional movie night wear, their pajamas when Sam decided to break the ice. "Paige..."

"Yea?" Paige wasn't ready to go down this road with Sam.

"Paige, just hear me out." She paused to see if Paige would allow her to carry on. Paige sighed and sat down quietly on the bed. Sam sat down across from her with her legs crossed. She began to tell Paige of the full encounter with Alex. She went into detail about Alex's concern with Sam and Paige's relationship status. Paige sat and listened while her mind continued to whirl. 


	4. Chapter 4

1**I know..I know...it's been forever..but..I was inspired...**

**Chapter 4 :**

_Why was Alex so concerned with Sam? Was she jealous? Was she threatened? Jesus, I was so not ready for this. Sam keeps talking me through the situation rationally, and I can't understand how she can remain so calm. Well, actually, I guess if she weren't dumped by the first girl she had ever fallen in love with in the middle of a mall after a shoplifting fiasco, it might be a bit of a different situation. Oh, who am I kidding? She was my first love. Period. I mean, yeah, I cared about Spin, and there was that whole confusing pre-graduation sex thing, but he never got me the way she did, and he never made me feel the way I did when I was with her. We salvaged our friendship up until graduation, but after I moved to Kingston, we stopped talking. Then, I met Sam, and she's been a great friend to me. I never really went into the whole Alex situation with her, but judging from the way she's talking now, I'm assuming she figured out what's going on. I guess it's one of those female intuition things. _

Paige paused in the middle of a grueling thought process and ran her hand through her hair.

"So..." Sam questioned her.

_Oh shit, she stopped talking. What was the last thing she said? _"Sorry, what was the last thing you said there? I kinda zoned for a minute." Paige quickly recovered.

"I was asking you if there was more you wanted to tell me about your past with Alex."

_Not really...but I don't guess she's going to give me much of a choice. Where are the boys with that pizza already? _"Well...honestly..." Paige began, and told Sam the entire story of her past with Alex beginning with hallway insults and icky brown polyester to movie premieres and heart to hearts in the laneway all the way to the middle of the mall breakup. "It's just, she completely turned my world upside down ya know? I sure as hell wasn't prepared initially to even be friends with her, much less love her... but it happened. Originally, I didn't know what to do with myself when she left me standing there, but after I got to Kingston, I had school to distract me. I guess I understand now...needing to find herself and all of that, and that following me to Banting wouldn't really help her accomplish that. That's the thing though, it just got really weird all of a sudden. What happened at the Dot, that was weird. We were ok when I left, but then we stopped talking, and now I honestly don't know what's going on. That's Alex...she's not like anyone else..." Paige finished with a sigh.

Sam sat and marinated on all of the things Paige said before she spoke herself. "This is just a shot in the dark here, but maybe she, like you, had gotten used to putting her feelings aside and focusing on other things, and then when she saw you, it brought everything back, and it freaked her out? Because, obviously the two of you still have feelings for one another. Hell, she nearly gave me a heart attack today with her interrogation about what my intentions were with you."

Paige smiled quietly at the thought of Alex scaring the shit out of Sam. "What?" Sam asked.

"Oh, nothing, it's just that _that_ is so typically Alex... all hard on the outside...total squishy emotional teddy bear on the inside."

"I tell you, that girl was **not** a teddy bear." Sam said with a laugh as the front door opened downstairs.

"Weeee're baack, and we have pizza." the boys shouted from the floor below.

"Yea, you better get down here Paige before your brother eats all of the ham and pineapple" Marco said.

"To be continued? Oh personal therapist o' mine?" Paige said. _Strangely enough, and I never thought I'd say this, but it felt good to talk about Alex. It had been so long since I had, and even though I don't know what the hell is going on at the moment, it felt good to talk about her. _

"Sure thing."

"Now, I've got to get downstairs. Marco wasn't kidding about the ham and pineapple. Dylan will devour ALL of it." Paige said before running downstairs. Sam shook her head and smiled slyly before following Paige down to the Michalchuk kitchen.

The group gathered various sodas, napkins, and slices of pizza before gathering in the living room. Laughter echoed throughout the course of the movie. Marco and Dylan were curled up together on the floor in front of the couch while Sam and Paige had set up camp on the couch.

For the evening anyways, the Michalchuk clan and their respective visitors had peace of mind. Meanwhile, at the apartment of one Alex Nunez, things weren't quite so peaceful.


	5. Chapter 5

1**A/N: Another update? Oh yes...I've been feeling the Palex hard core as of late. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 5:**

The living room of a small apartment in an unfavorable part of Toronto was dark except for the blue flicker of a tv that sat at one end of the room. A few crumpled beer cans could be seen scattered about the coffee table. A man lay passed out in an aging arm chair. An empty bottle of whisky had long since fallen on the floor next to him. Emily Nunez watched her latest boyfriend, Ken, as he snored with his mouth agape. They had begun the evening watching a Maple Leafs game on the television, but sometime after the second period, she noticed he was out cold. She continued to drink her beer in silence.

Alex's bedroom down the short hallway was a completely different scene. She was pacing around the small room muttering things to herself. She had been doing this since she had gotten home from the Dot a few hours earlier. Occasionally, she would pick something up and throw it across the room in frustration. She stopped pacing for a moment, and shook her head. She leaned over to pick something up to hurl across the room, but she stopped and paused as soon as her eyes fell on what had found it's way into her hands.

It was a picture frame that had been concealed underneath a pile of her clothes. The frame held a picture of Paige and herself. It was one of those pictures where one person held the camera out and ended up only getting their heads in the picture. In this particular photo, Alex had been holding the camera, and Paige was kissing her on the cheek. They were captured in an orange glow as the sun had just been setting. They had taken a picnic basket and blanket to the park and spent the afternoon together. Alex's eyes focused on the picture and she simply stared at it for a moment.

She reached her right hand up and laid her head in her palm. She massaged at her temple briefly before saying to herself "I've got to get out of here." She tossed the frame down onto her bed and grabbed a jacket from off of the floor. She exited out of her room, and shut the door quietly behind her. She realized her mom was still up and out in the living room. The latest man disaster was still passed out in the arm chair.

"Where are you going?" her mom slurred in her general direction.

"Just out, mom. I'll be back in a bit." Her mother simply nodded and continued to stare blankly at the television screen. She walked down the hallway and found herself exiting the apartment building out into the crisp December air. Her breaths came out in clouds of smoke. Usually, there were noisy cars driving by, or some sort of disturbance coming from inside the apartment building itself, but tonight it was eerily quiet. She began walking down the sidewalk at a comfortable pace. After a few minutes she reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a pack of menthol cigarettes and a lighter. It was a habit she had quit before, but eventually picked back up sometime after graduation.

She walked without a destination in mind. She had went through several cigarettes before she stopped, and it dawned on her where she had ended up. She had found herself in the very park that the photo from earlier had been taken. It was completely empty except for her. She walked over to a tall maple tree where she and Paige would often come to watch the sunset. Her eyes instantly fell upon a small carving at the base of the tree. They had carved a heart with the word "Palex" inside of it. They nearly didn't get it carved because they were giggling so much. It had actually began as a joke with Marco. He started calling the two of them "Palex" because they were inseparable. At least...they were at the time the carving took place.

Alex squatted down and ran her fingers over the pattern in the bark. She traced each letter with the tip of her finger. As her mind wandered off to a better time, she almost swore she could feel Paige there with her. She shivered slightly and pulled her coat more tightly around her.

"It's cold tonight." The voice startled Alex out of her thoughts and she quickly stood up and turned around. There she was. Paige Michalchuk. Alex leaned against the tree. She wasn't quite sure of what to do with herself. She felt as if she could barely stand on her own. Her legs had turned to rubber. "You know...it's ok. I need to tell you a few things." Paige continued once she realized that Alex was probably not about to interrupt, much less say anything at all.

"Alex, I don't know what the hell happened this afternoon at the Dot, but it really threw me for a loop. If it's the one thing that I know about you, it's that you're definitely not shy. And you definitely don't usually have a problem telling someone what you think about them. So, why the runaway act? Besides...I kinda thought...we had been through that already..." Paige got increasingly quiet as the last sentence escaped her lips.

"Paige." Alex attempted to speak for the first time, but her throat had dried out so much that it barely came out above a whisper. She cleared her throat, and began again. "Paige, you know why I did the things I did back in May, and I thought we were over that."

"Yea, but I thought we decided to be friends as well, and uh, the last time I checked...friends who haven't seen each other in months typically don't storm out as soon as they see one another." Alex sighed heavily and took a cigarette out of her pocket and lit up. As she exhaled deeply Paige only shook her head. "I thought you quit."

"Actually, I did...for a while at least." Neither girl said anything and a tense moment passed before Alex finally spoke up. "I didn't know how to handle seeing you. I've been trying to figure it out for myself all night, but it's as simple as that. I guess, while you were gone, it was easier not to think about you, and then there you were. I guess it brought everything back and made things ten times harder."

"It's funny, that's exactly what Sam said it probably was."

Alex raised an eyebrow at this last statement. "So, who is this Sam girl really anyways?"

"Honestly? She's just a really good friend of mine. She's been the only one to keep me sane in Kingston. It was a lot harder than I ever expected it to be. I nearly had a breakdown my first month there. She helped me sort through my head."

"You could have called me ya know?" Alex interrupted.

"Yea, but I guess I sorta was trying to distract myself from thinking about you too, and calling you wouldn't have made that any easier."

"I know...I know...I get that. I just don't understand how we ended up like this."

"Maybe...it was just better for us." Paige said, and neither girl spoke for a while. "I missed you. I may have tried to distract myself, but there was never a point in time where I didn't miss you."

"I...missed you too." Alex confessed.

"Well, here's a brilliant idea here hon, but let's not let that happen again, ok?"

"Sounds like a plan." Alex said with a grin.

The two talked for nearly another hour with increasing comfort as each word poured out of their mouths. They updated one another on what exactly was going on in their lives, and laughed at the absurdity of their day.

Paige's phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and looked at the display. "Oh, hang on a sec. It's Sam. Holy shit, it's nearly midnight. She's probably wondering where I am." She flipped open the phone and had a brief conversation with Sam. "She was trying to drill me for more information once she realized I was here with you."

"Figures.." Alex said with a smirk.

"Hey!" Paige hit her gently in the shoulder.

"I was just kidding. You know I need to be properly introduced to this Sam character anyways. I think I may have made a bad first impression." She wiped at a fake tear. "Such a tragedy...really...but honestly, Spam has a point. It is getting late. Let me walk you home."

"Her name is SAM, and fine, I'll _let_ you walk me home." Both girls shared a laugh as they set off for Paige's house.

They experienced a comfortable silence during the walk with both girls occasionally stealing a glance at one another. As they reached Paige's block, they caught one another and just shook their heads at one another and giggled. They still had goofy grins on their faces as they walked up the driveway to Paige's home.

"Well, I guess this is goodnight." Paige said.

"Yeah...would you..maybe like to get together sometime tomorrow?" Alex asked a bit hesitantly. "With Spam?"

"SAM! And yeah, that sounds like a plan." Paige said smiling from ear to ear. "I'll call you tomorrow to make plans?"

"Sure thing. The number's still the same."

"Good. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Paige said as they stood in front of one another for a few long awkward seconds not really knowing what to do.

They shared a quick hug before Alex made her exit down the driveway. "Bye Paige."

Meanwhile, from Paige's window upstairs, Sam had watched the entire exchange. "Oh yeah, they're _so_ not over." she said to herself with a knowing grin on her face.


End file.
